Post by racingteatray on Oct 29, 2018 15:54:59 GMT
Just back from a very wet long w/end in northern Italy where we put almost exactly 500kms under the wheels of…a Peugeot 308 diesel…
Not a remotely exciting car but it was apparently the only available alternative to the Opel Crossland which Avis had originally allocated to us. And, having had one of those in Tuscany in June, I was in no rush to have another.
It was a 130bhp 1.5 TDi in “Business” trim with 19k kms on the clock, so well run-in, and painted in a rather wallflower shade of light metallic grey that did nothing to make it any more exciting.
The most interesting thing I can say about the exterior design is that this was a facelifted 308 whereas my sister-in-law has a pre-facelift 308 estate and, looking at the two front-on (see photo below), I’d not necessarily say that the facelifted car looks fresher than the original. In fact if anything the older car looks sleeker and, if you didn’t know, you might think it was the facelifted version…
In addition, whilst the estate is quite sleek-looking, the hatchback is slightly dumpy, especially on shirt-button alloys as this one was.
Inside, obviously the stand-out feature is the tiddly steering wheel and the raised dials. I have encountered this set-up before in a 208 where it bothered me less, but I didn’t particularly like it in this car. Otherwise, the interior design is neat, tidy and modern without being especially interesting and the material finish is again unexceptional. The last Citroen C4 I went in felt more premium from memory. I didn’t like the touch-screen navigation system much. The screen is too low-set and it either didn’t have traffic updates or it was turned off with no clue on how to turn it on, because it singularly failed to spot several almighty snarl-ups which went we couldn’t trust its stated ETA at all. If you are used to iDrive, this is like going back in time. And I do not like having to go into a screen to change the temperature or speed of the ventilation – that is materially fiddlier and more distracting than old-fashioned buttons/knobs/digital displays. Relatively well-equipped but with some other odd ergonomic glitches, such as having steering wheel controls which are not illuminated meaning they aren’t very easy to use at night - you have to feel for them which is daft. As is having a back-to-front rev counter (ie the dial reads from right to left as revs rise).
Apart from that it was rather dark inside but comfortable and spacious for a hatchback, with a decent boot.
To drive, it was, well, pretty French. Quite a comfy cushioned ride that only really failed to cope with some broken tarmac on rural roads around Cremona. It was pissing it down all weekend and my wife was with me, so scope for Queefery was non-existent so I cannot tell you much about the handling. The only thing I had against it was that on some rather uneven and wet back roads, there was occasionally the most disconcerting sense of a degree of sideways skip or float at the rear in a straight-line as if it was lacking a bit of lateral stability. Not a sensation I’ve experienced in a car before and not very pleasant. I did wonder if it had something wrong with it but as it tracked straight and true the rest of the time, I’m not convinced it did.
The 130 donkeys up front weren't particularly vociferous and put up a reasonably respectable showing. As ever with this sort of engine, the flexibility and the mid-range in 3rd or 4th gear were the strongest points. Economy was reasonably decent - after 504 kms, it required only half a tank (45 euro's worth) of diesel, but equally it got a rather lighter work-out than I would usually give a rental car thanks to a combination of weather, traffic and it just not being a car that encourages in any way your inner hooligan. It cruised quietly and comfortably at the autostrada and, notably, wasn't one of those cars that you find yourself driving faster than you are expecting if your concentration on your speed wanders. Quite the opposite in fact. It seems to lollop along happiest at 110-120kph and I found myself having to speed up from time to time rather than slow down. Hat-wearing slow coaches will love this car!
I’ve read that the GTI versions of this car are well-regarded, and my sister-in-law seems to love her petrol estate version (which is admittedly a ritzy top-of-the-range example with every imaginable bell and whistle), but this did seem a very dull car to me. Perfectly ok. But just very forgettable.
